Gaelic Kingdoms

Kingdoms of Caledonia

The
Picts occupied Britain
north of the Antonine Wall, although in actual fact there never was a race
or tribe called the Picts. No Picts existed as any sort of identifiably
separate people The name was one that was applied to them from outside, and
more on an individual basis rather than as a specific tribal name. They were
just 'painted people' a referral to their blue woad tattoos. The Pictish
name for themselves remains unrecorded and unknown. They were an amalgam of
northern Celts
of various waves plus earlier indigenous peoples of Britain, those who had
migrated to avoid later arrivals rather than being submerged by them. Celtic
tribes were predominant (but not exclusively so) below the Antonine Wall.
(See the map of most of Europe's tribes around the first centuries BC and AD
to view the location of the Caledonian tribes in relation to all other Celts.)

The earlier name of Caledonia is more curious. The ending of '-ia' is a
Roman
suffix, which leaves Caledon or Galedon. The '-on' suffix here is a plural
which leaves Caled or Galed, which looks a good deal like Galat(ia), the
regions in modern
Spain
and
Poland. The location of tribes that carry variations of this name is
staggering: Caleti
(Belgae),
Gallaeci or Callaici (Iberia),
Celtici (Iberia),
Caledonii (the Scottish Highlands), Gaulish tribes in
Galatia
(Anatolia), and Gaulish survivors in
Galicia. The
names all seem to occur along the edges of the Celtic area of expansion, and
since the ancient Greeks named all of this ethnicity Keltoi, and Caesar blandly
remarked in his Commentaries that the Galli (chickens in Latin) called
themselves Celtae in their own language, then it seems possible that all of the
above are variations of the original native name for the Celts.

Less historically, and according to Pictish (or rather Gaelic) legend, there
was a Pict king named Cruithne son of Cing (from 'An Cruithain', the Gaelic word
for Pict which means, naturally, 'painted people'). Cruithne reigned for a hundred
years. He had seven sons (the number seven being very important to the Picts), who
were named Fib, Fidach, Foclaid (or Fotla), Fortrenn (Fortriu), Caitt (or Cat), Ce
and Circenn (Circind). The names of Cruithne's seven sons were also equated to the
seven provinces of Pictland detailed in an ancient account of Scotland called
De Situ Albanie (possibly written in the fourteenth century according to
F T Wainwright). Argyll, which by the fifth century had been invaded by Gaelic
Scotti, is not listed as a Pictish
province, showing that the DSA was formed in its original state after this
invasion. Fife, which had been briefly occupied by Rome, was home to the
Venicones.

It may be possible that the term Picti was the Latinised version of a collective
name in use by the people north of the Antonine Wall (and south of it, too, before
the Roman invasion). Professor Watson states that in Old Norse the name is 'Pettr',
in Old English 'Peohta' and in
Old Scots 'Pecht'. Today in Fife or Aberdeenshire they are still referred to as
'Pechs' or 'Pechties', suggesting Pect instead of Pict. There was a tribe of Gauls
on the Continent known as
Pictones,
with exactly the same meaning to their name.

Edward Dawson suggests that the list of twenty-eight kings named 'Brude' found in
the Pictish Chronicle seems to infer that it is a title of some sort. Each
Brude is followed by a name which is probably the individual's true name such as,
for example, 'Brude Cinid' (modern Kenneth). Then the name is followed by another
Brude with the same name but with 'ur-' at the beginning of it, as in: 'Brude
Urcnid'. 'Ur' could come from 'ard' ('high' - 'ardwo' in proto-Celtic, 'ardos' in
Gaulish), and if this is the case then the name should read: Brude Gart (King Gart),
or Brude Ar Gart (High King Gart). 'Brude' probably means a judge, equivalent to a
magistrate, as in the Gaulish [verb] bratu- (to judge). The Gaulish magistrates were
frequently equated with minor kings by the Romans, although they were electable and
dismissible (by death if nothing else!).

The Lugi name, also used by a major eastern Celtic confederation, the
Lugii, appears
to have been based on the name of the Celtic god, Lugus (correctly in common
Gaulish this should have an '-os' suffix, 'Lugos'). He is more commonly known as
the Irish
Lugh or Lug (probably cognate to the Latin 'lux', meaning 'light' - it is
possible that this god shows up in the Nordendorf fibula as Logathore, probably
also cognate with the
Norse
fire giant, Logi). In northern Iberia a sub-tribe of the Astures carried the
name Luggones, and nearby were the similarly named Louguei sub-tribe of the
Gallaeci. These should probably not be regarded as branches of the central
European Lugii, but instead as either fellow adherents of the cult of the
god Lugus, or followers of a tribal leader named after Lugus.

(Additional information by Edward Dawson, Brian Gibb, and from The Oxford
History of England: Roman Britain, Peter Salway, the Pictish Chronicle,
and from External Link:
Book of Deer.)

Cing

Reigned 100 yrs

Cruithne

Ruled all Pictland. 'Cruithne' is Gaelic for 'Pict'.

Reigned 12 yrs

Cat / Got

Son.

Cat is the senior kingdom. Cat himself rules Caithness, Sutherland,
the West Highlands, and the Northern and Western Isles. The name means 'Cat People'.

Reigned 40 yrs

Fidach (Moireabh?)

Brother.

Fidach rules Moray, Nairn and Ross. The name means 'Woodsman'.
In place of Fidach sometimes, Moireabh is used instead and would seem to be
the origin of 'Moray'.

Reigned 15 yrs

Cé / Ce / Kay

Brother.

Ce rules Banff, Buchan and parts of Aberdeenshire. The name Ce may
survive in the town of Keith.

Circinn rules Angus and the Mearns. The name means 'crest headed'. There
was also Crus (son of Cirech) who was a warrior of the Picts. A battle was fought on
the plain of Circinn against the Scots.

Reigned 70 yrs

Fortriu / Fortrann / Fortrenn

Brother.

Fortriu rules Strathearn and Menteith. The name may mean 'people of the
slow winding river'.

Reigned 24 yrs

Fib / Fibaid

Brother.

Fib rules Fife and Kinross. In the Book of Deer
the people of Fife are called the 'cu-sidhe' or fairy hounds. The
Pictish name of Vepogenus is formed from Vepo (pronounced 'wepo'), which is
also known as 'uip' and 'uib', or 'fib' in Gaelic, and is still used today
as Fife. The second part, 'genus' or 'genos' is universal to Latin, Greek
and Gaulish as 'race', 'stock', 'one's ancestry', so the name means roughly
'the guy of the race of Fife'. The name Vepogenus is found on a
Roman
inscription at Colchester, which reads: 'To the god of the battlefields Mars
Medocius, and to the victory of [Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus]
Alexander Pius Felix Augustus, Lossius Veda the grandson of Vepogenus
Caledos, placed [this] offering out of his own [funds]'. 'Caledo' means
Caledonian (the early Roman name for what later became the Picts). The word
'Medocius' forms part of the argument for the naming of the
Demetae tribe.

The traditional view of Picts as the 'painted people' is based
on a description given by the Romans, and the use of blue woad
as a body paint does seem to have been highly prevalent in the
far north of Britain

In the Pictish Chronicle there follows a list of Pictish kings who are
purported to have existed but for whom no corroboration can be found. All
those below who are without dates of rule fall into this grouping, and have
been positioned in the list according to a rough approximation of when they
might have lived rather than any firm data to pinpoint their lifetimes. Those
with dates are sourced from elsewhere. Where there are two versions of the name,
the first is the English translation, and the second is the original from the
Pictish Chronicle. All these names are backed in lilac to highlight
their lack of foundation in recorded history.

Gede olgudach

Reigned 80 years.

Denbecan (or Oenbecan)

Reigned 100 years.

Olfinecta

Reigned 60 years.

Guidid gaed brechach

Reigned 50 years.

Gest gurcich

Reigned 40 years.

Wurgest

Reigned 30 years.

Brude bont

Reigned 48 years.

Brude bont is the ancestor of thirty (actually fifteen) Brudes who rule
Ireland and Albany
for a period of 150 years, although the Pictish Chronicle fails
to note which of them rules which areas. Each name is duplicated, but
with the addition of a form of 'ur', suggesting that each ruler or 'brude'
becomes high king, or 'ur-' (see introduction for an explanation of these
terms).

The RomanGovernor of
Britain leads two invading columns into Lowland
Scotland, with (probably) the Twentieth (previously based at Glevum in
Dobunni territory) and Ninth
Legions meeting up at Inveresk (near Edinburgh) in the territory of the
Votadini Britons. The
force sets up permanent garrisons in its wake.

The following year, the Forth-Clyde line is secured, perhaps slightly south
of the later Antonine Wall and edging into the territory of the
Venicones.
In 82, the Romans secure the western coast up to
the Clyde to contain the tribesmen there (the
Damnonii,
Selgovae, and
Novantae) and perhaps to prevent
Irish landings.

83 - 84

Within
the Pictish (northern British) heartland, firstly north of the Firth of Forth (in AD 83) and
then at Mons Graupius (or Mons Grampius, in AD 84), the
Romans
under Governor Agricola win victories over what they call the 'Caledonides' led
by Calgucus (using the diminutive form of the name, perhaps to suggest that
this is viewed as a minor group, perhaps without a recognised leadership).
The idea is to pre-empt an intended attack by the
Caledonians, but it almost proves disastrous in the first year as the Ninth
Legion is surprised by a night assault.

The following year, the Roman fleet goes ahead along the coast to spread
terror, and is accompanied by
British
allies. The location of the decisive battle has been strongly identified with
the mountain now known as Bennachie in Aberdeenshire. It is possible that the
tribal grouping of the Creones
and their neighbours along the western coast could be involved.

85 - 88

A large number of Caledonians had escaped after the battle, leaving the
Romans
with a very difficult security job. Agricola and his replacement, probably
Governor Sallustius
Lucullus, continue the job of securing the exits to the Highland glens
along the east coast. But by 86-88 many forts are dismantled, possibly
due to troop shortages while Rome is fighting the Dacian War. Apart from
some possible watchtowers, the main Roman forces retire to the Tyne-Solway
line.

90 - 556

Pictland is obscured
from history for most of the period of Roman rule in
Britain by
the very fact of its exclusion from the
Roman
empire and an absence of internal writings. During this period the tribal
holdings (possibly in seven major groups) gradually coalesce to re-emerge into
history as two distinct kingdoms,
North & South,
the latter of which is formed of about five occasionally feuding sub-kingdoms.

c.100 - 105

The
northern Brigantes
apparently revolt, perhaps under the leadership of Argiragus, a possible
candidate for High King
(as is any British chieftain who refuses to surrender to the
Romans).
Argiragus seems to be responsible for the burning of the
auxiliary fort at Corsopitum, as well as others, as the British tribes of
lowland Scotland stage a major uprising. By AD 100 the Romans give up
Scotland, and fully establish their defences along the Tyne-Solway line.

Carvorst

Reigned 40 years.

120

Hadrian's
Wall is built along the already-established Tyne-Solway defensive line.

Deo Ardivois

Reigned 20 years.

140 - 143

The
Romans
move north to the Forth-Clyde line, roughly the southern Pictish boundary, reoccupying
British Lowland Scotland
and beginning construction of the more basic Antonine Wall. It is around
this time that the geographer, Ptolemy, notes the tribes to the north of the
wall. Some of them receive their one and only mention in history and it is
thought that at least one or two tribes may have been created by refugees
fleeing the Roman invasion of the south.

The tribes mentioned include the Caereni, Caledonii (along either side of Loch Ness
southwards from the Moray Firth to Ben Nevis),
Carnonacae, Cornavii
(possibly formed by members of the
Cornovii tribe fleeing from
the south), Creones,
Decantae (on the western side of the mouth of the Moray Firth, possibly
formed by fleeing Cantii),
Epidii, Lugi, Smertae, Taexalli, Vacomagi (on the eastern side of the mouth
of the Moray Firth), and Venicones (on the peninsula between the Firth of
Tay and the Firth of Forth, possibly refugee
Veneti from the Continent).

Vist

Reigned 50 years.

Ru

Reigned 100 years.

197

According to Dio, the tribes north of the Forth-Clyde line have by now
coalesced into two main bodies, the Caledonii and the Maeatae. The latter
live close to the Antonine Wall, north of the Forth-Clyde isthmus. By 206,
the RomanGovernor of Britain,
L Alfenus Senecio, seems to have had some military success in the region.

fl 208 - 211

Argentocoxos

King of Fib, and possible king of all Picts.

209 - 211

The Roman
emperor, Severus, leads a campaign in person against the Caledonii and
Maeatae. The latter could be a southern grouping of
British
or Pictish tribes, as Dio says that they dwell 'next to the cross-wall that
divides the island in half'. This would suggest the Antonine Wall which
reaches from the Firth of Forth to the Clyde. A scorched earth policy is
pursued to try and bring the ephemeral tribesmen either to a pitched battle
or to surrender, neither of which actually occurs. Following Severus' death,
either immediately or shortly afterwards, Rome permanently abandons Scotland,
possibly in stages.

Gartnaith loc

Reigned 9 years.

Breth mac Buthut

Reigned 7 years. 'Brede Mac Muthut'?

305 - 306

Breth mac Buthut is sometimes shown as Brede Mac Muthut, a more Gaelic
version of his name and therefore probably a later version. In this period,
the Roman
emperor, Constantius Chlorus, does much the same as Severus before him,
personally leading a campaign into Caledonia to bring the elusive tribes
in the Highlands to battle and ensure a period of renewed peace.

310

The Panegyrici Latini Veteres, or Panegyrics,
which praises the later
Roman
emperors, carries the first known use of 'Picts' to describe the
British
tribes of the far north of the country, meaning the Caledones 'and others'.

Vipoig Namet

Reigned 30 years.

Fiachu Albus

Not always shown. A real name, perhaps?

Canutulachama / Canutulachama

Reigned 4 years. 'Canatumel'. Unusually realistic reignal
length.

360 - 361

At the start of 360,
Roman Caesar Julian (the Apostate) is wintering
in Lutetia Parisiorum (the early Paris) when reports reach him that the
Scotti
and Picts have broken a previous agreement (perhaps made in 343) and are
plundering lands close to the frontier, presumably those of the
Novantae
and Selgovae.
Whether the campaign goes ahead under a less senior commander after the
original commander is recalled is unknown.

Cunedda
and his branch of Romanised Venicones are transferred from the Manau dependency of the
Goutodin
kingdom, traditionally by Magnus Maximus. They are moved to the former
territory of the Deceangli
in western Wales to secure the
region from
Irish
raiders, and it is here that they found the kingdom of
Gwynedd.

398

The Romans
again lead a campaign from
Britain
to defeat Pictish forces in the north, along with
Saxon and
Irish Scots.

c.400?

The period in which St Ninian is active is uncertain, with a general date of
the fourth or fifth century being given. St Ninian (known as Ringan in Pictland and Trynnian to the
Northern British),
is certainly active in these areas. His base may be in the territory of the
Novantae, which later houses a major shrine to him, while he spreads the
word amongst the South Picts,
becoming known as the Apostle to the Southern Picts. His work is carried out
before that of St Patrick in
Ireland, because the latter mentions the South Picts being apostates,
meaning that they have renounced their conversion to Christianity.

413 - 453

Drust mac Erp / Yrb / Wirp

King of North and South Picts.

449/450

It is attacks by the Picts and Irish
Scotti that prompts the
High King
of Britain,
Vortigern, to hire Jutish and
Angle mercenaries to fight them off.
The second major attack on Britain by Drust is met by the mercenaries under
the command of Hengist on land and at sea and the Pictish tide is repelled.
The mercenaries subsequently turn on their masters and
begin a conquest of south-eastern Britain, quickly forming a kingdom of
their own in Kent.

453 - 456

Talorg mac Aniel

Son.

456 - 480

Nectan Morbet mac Erp (the Great)

Younger brother of Drust MacErp.

The
clan-lands of Nectan Morbet are in the region of Tay, embracing parts of
Forfarshire, Perthshire, and Fife, while the king himself is traditionally
held to be a Christian.

480 - 510

Drust Guorthinmoc

The Gaelic version is 'Drest II Gurthinmac'.

c.485

The
Scotti of Irish
Dál Riata begin to colonise
Argyll at Cantyre. Apparently, Drust does nothing to stop them, and may
not even know about them at first. He has to deal with pagan rebellions in
the north, reason enough to be distracted from the west.

510 - 522

Galan Arilith /
Galanan Erilich

522

This
period probably marks the beginning of the division of Pictland into
North and South.
Drust mac Udrost and Drust mac Gyrom ruled jointly. Each would keep his
seat in the capital of his clan, but in affairs that concerned all the
clans they would lead together. It is not known who rules which division
of Pictland.

522 - 527

Drust mac Udrost

Co-ruled with Drust mac Gyrom (with a north/south
divide?).

522 - 532

Drust mac Gyrom

Co-ruler 522-527. Ruled a united Pictland (527-532).

532 - 539

Gartnaidh mac Gyrom

Brother.

539 - 540

Celtran mac Gyrom
/ Cailtram

Brother.

540 - 551

Talorg mac Murtholic

At this time Yellow Plague ravished the country.

549 - 552

Following
the death of the powerful Maelgwyn of
Gwynedd, and given the dearth of
information about the Northern British kings at this time, it is entirely plausible
to suggest that the northern kings are dominant for a time. The Yellow Plague
that sweeps the country hits the
Britons far
harder than it does the
Saxon invaders, finally shifting the balance of power in favour of the
latter. Even the Picts seem to be affected by the plague, with the possible
loss of at least one of their kings, Drust mac Munaith, in 552.

551 - 552

Drust mac Munaith

Possible Yellow Plague victim.

North Pictland

The northern Picts were combined in one kingdom, that of Cat (Caithness),
under the powerful Brudei. St Columba needed interpreters to be able to
speak to the king, evidence either that the Picts did not speak the
Celtic
language of the Irish and Scots (or at the very least not the Gael version
of the Celtic tongue), or that the two branches had diverged noticeably.

St Columba, a descendant of the high kings of
Ireland, arrives in the
kingdom with twelve companions. He is granted land on Iona where he founds a
monastery in order to introduce the Picts along the western coast to
Christianity. Visiting the king, he wins his respect and subsequently plays
a major role not just in winning converts for the church but also as a
diplomat.

Coincidentally perhaps, in the same year in Ireland, the princes of the
Northern Uí Neill fight the
Battle of Móin Dairi Lothair against the
Cruthin tribes
in the north. Strongly suspected of being migratory Picts, the Cruthin are
crushed, and the Uí Neill are able to expand into the modern County Londonderry
as far as the River Bann.

573

Brudei
hands the invading
Dál Riatan Scotti a
heavy defeat at Lora (or Delgu/Telocho), and lays waste to their territory in the west.

Gartnait is the 37th Pictish king in The Pictish Chronicle, the only
historical writing to have been left by the Picts.

599 - 621

Nectan mac Connon mocu Erp (II)

Powerbase in the Tay and Forfar
regions to the east.

c.600

In the territory of Ce (Kay), which had probably been part of the
territory of the Taexili, there is a fortification in use at this time. Rare Late
Roman
pottery found during an archaeological excavation at the site at Rhynie in
2011 reveals a collection of eight unique Pictish symbol stones. Also
revealed is an array of imported goods, the most remarkable of which are
large fragments of a Roman amphora which comes from the Eastern
Mediterranean. Many of the finds at Rhynie, such as a small sherd of glass
that has been identified as a drinking bowl from the sixth or seventh
century, or the bronze pins and two amber beads, suggest that it is a place
of high status associated with fine dining and drinking. The finds suggest
that this part of
Britain is much more important than has been thought, perhaps playing an
important role in the power politics of early medieval
Scotland.

Drust
(or Drest) tries to expel the
Northumbrian
invaders from Pictland, but is defeated by Ecgfrith and removed from the
throne. Whether these invaders have enjoyed supremacy over the kingdom or
not is unclear, although the accession in 653 of Talorcan son of Eanfrith
would suggest this.

Brudei faces a huge
Northumbrian host on
the plains of Dunnichen (Dun Nechtain), in Angus, probably with descendants of the
Creones tribe
amongst his forces. The Battle of Nechtansmere (the English name which may originate
from the same root word as the Caledonian one) is a turning point in which Brudei makes
his name. The Northumbrians had previously defeated every force they had faced, and had
occupied southern Pictland for thirty years, probably as part of the territory of
Dunbar. Brudei defeats them
and massacres the entire enemy host including its king, and proceeds to clear Pictland
of the remaining Northumbrians who have settled there, killing or enslaving them.

693 - 697

Taran mac Entifidich

A weak king. Deposed.

697

Taran
is deposed after ruling for only four years. Two of these years are
nominal, the real power during that time being in the hands of Brude,
chief of the powerful house of Derelei, who becomes sovereign. It seems to
be this takeover that cements Pictland as a single
nation.

South Pictland

Scone was the capital of the strongest of the southern sub-kingdoms, Fortriu (Roman
Verturiones, modern Forteviot). The sub-kingdom of Fib, to the east, lives on as
Fife. The remaining four were Fotla, Fidach, Circind, and Ce. It may be that
South Pictland was only independent of the North for short periods, which
would explain the lack of any details of kings for this region.

The South Picts were converted to Christianity by St Ninian in the late
fourth or early fifth century. He became known as the Apostle to the
Southern Picts. His work was carried out before that of St Patrick in
Ireland, because the latter mentions the South Picts being apostates,
meaning that they renounced their conversion to Christianity, probably
between AD 400-450, and perhaps following the death of a king. The same
reversion to paganism after the death of a leader can be seen amongst the
East Saxons and
Northumbrians. Tradition
states that Ninian died in Ireland in 432.

556 - 565

The
south is commanded by the powerful
North under Brudei mac Maelcon.

552 - 580

Galam Cennelath

580 - ?

It
could be possible, given the lack of a name for the south, that it could
again be commanded by the
North.

603

Aedan mac Gabrán of
Dál Riata invades the Anglian kingdom of
Bernicia and attacks King
Æthelfrith at the Battle of Degsastan. By fighting and defeating Dál Riata,
Æthelfrith secures the alliance of Dál Riata's enemies, the southern Picts.

Areas
of the south are conquered by the
Northumbrian
Angles under Oswiu.

681

Northumbria
establishes a bishopric under Bishop Trumwine amongst the Southern Picts at
Abercorn. The effort to convert the Picts fails just four years later and is
abandoned shortly after the North Picts
defeat the Northumbrians at the Battle of Dunnichen.

697?

The North has long held
pre-eminence over the South and by this time a single kingdom is forged in Pictland.

United Pictland

South Pictland may have experience periods
of semi-independence from the more powerful
North Pictland at times over the past century
and a half, but by the reign of Brude Derelei the Picts were firmly reunited,
mainly in the face of the threat post by the powerful
Northumbrians
on their southern border.

Again, the name Brude, or Brede, appears regularly in this list, as it does
in the list of North Pictland and early
Pictish kings. The name Brude
appears thirty times in succession in the Pictish Chronicle for the
earlier, semi-mythical period prior to Corbredus of AD 76, and Edward
Dawson's suggestion that it may be a title of some sort holds just as true
for these later kings. The numbering is applied to Pictish kings by some
modern lists (primarily those based in the US, it seems). This numbering
is an entirely modern application against these rulers. They would have
had no use for it themselves. Any notion of their position in the line of
descent would have been based on reciting their ancestry, not on whether
they were the first, second, third or fourth ruler to bear the same name.

Nechtan
tries to befriend the Northumbrian
Angles. They send a war party under the leadership of Bertfrid (Beorhtfrith of
Dunbar, King Osred's chief
ealdorman) and a battle is fought on the Moor of Mannand / Manaw. The battle
results in heavy losses on both sides, and no recorded victory.

Nechtan enters a monastery for a few years in 724 and the succession becomes
muddled by in-fighting and rapid successions (thanks to the practise of
matrilineal descent followed by the Picts, and a
large number of eligible would-be kings). Nechtan is defeated in his
retirement by Angus in 728-9, and Drust is killed in battle.

After defeating the
Dal Riada Scotti in their Caledonian territories
and ruling over them, and also in Ireland, Angus turns his attention south to
Alt Clut, and may have
defeated them in open battle in this year.

Angus'
attention remains fixed on taking territory from
Alt Clut.
His brother, Talorcan, leads a Pictish army at the battle of Mocetauc (he
was either commanding with Angus' blessing or may have been in contention
for the Pictish throne). Talorcan is killed, as is Tewdur, king of
Alt Clut, but the Britons hold the battlefield.

756

One
last attempt is made to conquer
Alt Clut,
this time with help from
Northumbria.
The combined armies nearly succeed in capturing Dunbarton, but a reversal
sees them almost destroyed, and Angus retreats back into Pictland.

The line of descent of
Pictish kings is broken when the Pictish army is destroyed and Eoganan is
killed while leading his men against the Vikings in what seems to have been
a huge battle. This shattering defeat also sees the death of his brother
(and successor) along with 'others almost without number'.

This decimation of the Pictish warrior class by the Vikings is perhaps the
most decisive point which swings the pendulum of control towards the Scots. Pictland
eventually merges with Scotian Dal Riada
through intermarriage to become Scotland.
The Annals of Ulster record no more Pictish kings, but some extra rulers
are named in other lists, and may have ruled only in the North for a time.

839 - 842

Uurad / Wrad mac Bargoit

Reigned
jointly with Brede for his final year.

842 - 843

Brede mac Degart

Last Pictish sovereign
mention in Pictish Chronicle.

843

Kenneth mac Ferath

Northern Picts only.

843 - 845

Brede mac Fethal

Brother of Brede.
Northern Picts only.

845 - 848

Drest mac Fethal (IX)

Northern Picts only.
Killed by Kenneth mac Alpin.

850

Drest, the sixty-ninth king on the amalgamated lists of Pictish kings,
is also the last, being killed by the shadowy figure of Kenneth MacAlpin.
Kenneth's control of Pictland sees him absorb this remaining independent
northern province so that he is able to unite most of the country, a
feat which is extended to cover all of
Scotland
by subsequent kings. The heritage of the Picts as the rulers of a united
'Scottish' kingdom before the ascendancy of the Scots themselves is largely
forgotten by later generations.